Dolly Parton has fond memories of 9 to 5

Published 5:30 am, Sunday, November 7, 2010

Jane Fonda, from left, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton play the three coworkers planning revenge on their overbearing boss (Dabney Coleman) in the movie version of 9 to 5.

Jane Fonda, from left, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton play the three coworkers planning revenge on their overbearing boss (Dabney Coleman) in the movie version of 9 to 5.

Photo: Twentieth Century Fox

Dolly Parton has fond memories of 9 to 5

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Dolly Parton is a legend. A pioneer. An icon. A diva. (Or insert another appropriately grandiose term here.)

She wasn't yet 21 when her first few singles were released. Her first No. 1 hit, Joshua, came in 1970 and started a run of 25 chart toppers, the most by any female country artist. (Her last No. 1 was 1990's Rockin' Years.) She's crossed over to pop, starred in movies, opened amusement parks and even mentored would-be idols — all with a scrappy, self-deprecating sense of humor.

"Hey, it's just me," Parton, 64, says in her distinctive crack of a voice. "You must have seen me for 100 years."

Indeed, it seems as if the blond, buxom star has been around forever. A large part of it is thanks to signature hits: Coat of Many Colors, I Will Always Love You, Islands in the Stream and, of course, 9 to 5.

"I think in a way, my music has been almost like my ministry," she says. "Hopefully, it's healing in some ways, just having a good sense of humor to be able to lift people up, to have songs that people can relate to."

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Her working-class anthem, originally released in 1980, has morphed from song to movie to Broadway musical. The 9 to 5 national tour opens Tuesday at Hobby Center. American Idol 2 runner-up Diana DeGarmo takes on the role of Doralee Rhodes, made famous by Parton in the film.

"Of course, it didn't last forever on Broadway, but it was fun," Parton says. The show ran for just four months, but earned four Tony nominations, including one for Parton's bouncy score.

"It's scaled down a little bit from all the big scenes we had in New York, all the high-tech stuff. Now it's more fitting, I think, to the show. It's very warm. You never know when you go on Broadway if it's going to be a big hit or if it's going to last through the night. I always ask God to deal with everything in his way, and I just accept all that."

Parton's 9 to 5tune, however, was a smash and still stands the biggest hit of her career. She earned Oscar and Golden Globe nods for best original song and picked up a pair of Grammys.

"I used to dream, when I would go to other people's shows and the artist had songs that people sang along with, 'How cool must that be?,'" she says. "I've been working this9 to 5 job for 30 years, so God only knows how many times on the road I've sung it. Thousands of times, for sure. But I don't get tired of it, really."

9 to 5marked Parton's first official foray into theater, but she boasts a pair of indirect connections, having starred in big-screen adaptations of the musicalThe Best Little Whorehouse in Texas(inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grange) and the playSteel Magnolias.

Still, she dubs the theater world "absolutely unknown" to a simple country girl, aside from a few visits.

"It wasn't anything that was a big interest," Parton says. "I started going to Broadway probably in the '80s on occasion when I would go to New York. I shared an apartment up there with my gay friend and manager Sandy Gallin. I kind of got a taste of it, just enough to absorb it, and didn't realize I had until they asked me to do the musical.

"I seemed to have a knack for it, and I really liked it. I had a freedom that I didn't have to worry about the time for radio, how long a song was. I really could expand and just write what I wanted to write about."

Parton says she has more ideas for the stage. ("Broadway don't scare me.") But other than a bit of brief stunt casting, don't expect to see her in the spotlight anytime soon. ("I don't like sit-down jobs.") She's too busy being fabulous.

"There are tons of things that I know I'd like to do. I pray every day that God's going to guide me, lead me, show me - and I'll be smart enough to know it, see it and accept it," she says.

"I would love to have a show like Pee Wee Herman had years ago, Pee Wee's Playhouse. I would love to have a show that appealed to children as well as grown-ups - a fun, outrageous, over-the-top kind of thing."